In October of 2011, the Miss Downriver Scholarship Program began as a closed local preliminary for the Miss Michigan & Miss America Organizations.

In June 2018, the program was renamed the Miss Lake Michigan and Miss Lake Erie "double" Scholarship Program and currently hosts two open local preliminary scholarship competitions. The Miss America Organization is one of the nation's leading achievement programs and the world's largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women. Rich in history and social significance, the Miss America Organization is a not-for-profit organization that has maintained a tradition for many decades of empowering American women to achieve their personal and professional goals, while providing a forum in which to express their opinions, talent, and intelligence.

In 2017, the Miss America Organization and its state and local organizations made available more than $45 million in cash and scholarship assistance. This assistance is not just for the handful of young women who become Miss America, but is available to the

over 12,000 young women who compete in state and local competitions each year.

FOUR lucky young ladies are awarded the Miss Lake Michigan & Lake Erie titles, including their respective Outstanding Teen titles, and receive the opportunity to compete at the Miss Michigan &

Miss Michigan's Outstanding Teen Pageants, held each June in Muskegon. The Miss Michigan winner will compete at the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City, NJ in September. Miss Michigan's Outstanding Teen will compete at Miss America's Outstanding Teen Pageant in Orlando, FL in July. There is also an option for four All Kids Matter contestants, ages 4 -12, to attend & participate as onstage escorts during the Miss Michigan and Miss Michigan's Outstanding Teen Pageants.

We are very proud of Miss Downriver's Outstanding Teen 2014, Vanessa Chambe, who won the title of